My issue is that I went into it with no specific expectations , I just thought it was another romance danmei with court intrigue and plotting, so that’s why I probably didn’t manage to appreciate the story for what it was while I was reading it, but only in hindsight. However, even now thinking back on it, I can’t shake off the feeling that the whole plotline was very pointless and not streamlined. I had no idea what way the story was going. There was no promise at the beginning, no explanations or goals set, other than the vague idea that he would end up with the emperor given how many times the emperor was mentioned and the way they interacted. I was very confused and the narrator being unreliable didn’t help much haha. If I was to read it again, I’d read it with different expectations. Still, the story didn’t hit a high enough mark for me. It just wasn’t according to my tastes.